An ecosystem is an intricate set of relationships between the living resources, habitats, and residents living in an area. It is the biological community of countless interacting organisms and their physical environment. This includes plants, animals, macro and microorganisms, sea life, water, birds and people. There are three main types of ecosystems on planet Earth. These are the freshwater ecosystems, terrestrial ecosystems and ocean ecosystems (Northern Research Station, 2014). The Rocky Shore ecosystem, categorised in the ocean ecosystems, is one very different to any other. Unlike any other normal ecosystem rocky shores are subjected to special conditions. Rocky shores are subjected to tidal change meaning that some organisms spend some …show more content…
The appearance of dominant species in these zones is called vertical zonation as show in figure 1. The highest zone is called the supra-littoral zone. This zone extends from above the range of the Nodilittorina and Melaraphe species down to the barnacles. The bottom of the Supra-Littoral zone will sometimes be covered by the highest spring tides, however for the most part this zone is dry and subjected to salt spray and weather. The next zone down is the Littoral Zone. This is the area of the rock platform, which roughly falls between high and low watermarks. This zone is then divided into three further zones, using indicator organisms. The Upper-Littoral Zone, which extends from the highest barnacles, being the rough barnacle and the honeycomb barnacles down to the Galeolaria. The next sub-zone is the Mid-Littoral Zone. A range of the indicator organism, Galeolaria, is commonly found in the Mid-Littoral Zone, but sometimes when this zone is put under extreme exposure to wave action, Coralline Algae can replace this indicator organism. Coralline Algae will not only be in the Mid-Littoral Zone but will frequently found in the Lower-Littoral Zone as well, which is the lowest sub-zone of the Littoral Zone. The indicator organism that is present in the Lower-Littoral Zone is Pyura. The lowest zone of the rocky shore ecosystem is the Sub-Littoral Zone. This …show more content…
Rocky shores can be found at Currumbin Rocks, Elephant Rocks, Nobby Headland, Snapper Rocks and the Flat Rocks near Tugun. However one very typical rocky shore ecosystem is the Hastings Point Rocky Shore Platform. Background information on ocean acidification: The rocky shore can be hugely affected by natural events, however anthropogenic pollution has a major affect as well. Anthropogenic pollution being urbanization, pollutants and fertilizers in storm water run off, tourism and development are all having negative effects on rocky shore ecosystems all over Australia. Although one anthropogenic polluter that is highly important is ocean acidification. For millions of years the Earths oceans have maintained a very stable acidity level. It’s within these steady ecosystems that the opulent and diverse millions of species in today’s seas have developed and thrived. However research has proven that the acidity balance is slowly being unfastened by a recent and fast drop in surface
My predictions for 6.1 were almost exactly what I expected except for one area. I thought that I would have saw an increase for the Chthamalus barnacles on day 2 there were 4 and then on day 14 there were 13. The part that did not met my expectations was I did not see a small decrease in the number of both species towards the end. Only on the first the sample on day 12 t day 4 saw a small decease of 1 individual of each species. But for the second trial there was an increase for each of the species of barnacles fro day 12 to 14. The Chthamalus saw a large increase from 18 to 23. The Semibalanus Saw an increase of 3 to 5.
... consider some ideas of what can be done to further enhance the management of the coastal issue. Using the research action plan, I aim to acquire a sophisticated understanding of longshore drift, coastal management and implementations of coastal issues, through the research action plan. Most importantly, I will include various diagrams explaining how the process of longshore drift occurs and what implementations it has on coastal environments, accompanied by an explanation of how the issue is being managed, a detailed outline of the geographical processes involved and a discussion of the impacts of the issue and why it is important.
Sabellaria cementarium belongs to the phylum Annelids and is an invertebrate polychaete species. They are found in small clumps at the rocky bottoms of the sea floor where they use the rich source of natural phytoplankton as their primary diet (Qian and Chia, 1990). The tube-like worms can behave social and form extensive reefs or independently build hollow tubes in to the sandstone (pawlik and Chia, 1991). Embryos form a polar lobe that is absorbed in to the blastomeres at the end of division. Larval development and movement follows shortly after the 14-15 hour fertilization period where spiral cleaving of the fertilized oocytes appears (Render, 1983). Much is still not known about the invertebrate worm in their natural niche.
Queensland coastal dunes are an integral part of coastal environment and ecosystems. Queensland beaches are known for a number of its natural icons and prominent features and are widely recognized and appreciated for their breath taking scenery, significant biodiversity, recreation experiences and generation of economic benefits from tourism. With the influx of human influence with beachfront development, mowing and topsoiling dunes, pedestrian and vehicular traffic, weeds and feral animals disturbing the native ecological communities, leads to the destruction of delicate sand dunes creating more damaging problems such as erosion. (reference)
Wisshak, M., Schönberg, C.H.L., Form, A. & Freiwald A (2012) Ocean Acidification Accelerates Reef Bioerosion. PLoS ONE 7(9): e45124. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0045124
Even though the study of the deterioration of pteropods in high acidity water may seem unimportant in the grand scheme of the ocean, it is crucial to start somewhere. In this case the pteropods happen to be one of the most obvious examples of marine life that will be influenced by the ocean acidification. It is without a doubt clear that ocean acidification is an up and coming problem that will change the chemistry of the ocean and not only the effect the ocean’s ecosystem and creatures, but most likely the rest of the environment as well. Even though there is copious amounts of research available concerning ocean acidification, it is unclear whether model predictions will come to fruition in the future, or if actual results will completely differ from projections. Currently, the only clear path to try to delay the progression of ocean acidification is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions exponentially. The chart below (Fig. 5) gives a concise and detailed account of what is happening, what will happen and what needs to happen if ocean acidification is going to be
Coral reefs are often thought of being “rainforests of the ocean” as they create a large diversity. A select type of coral control this diversity a symbiotic relationship with plankton. The distinct type of plankton are called zooxanthellae. This symbiotic relationship between hosts and partners that use photosynthesis, allow coral to skyrocket in seas where nutrients are poor and send calcium carbonate down to the bottom of the ocean in order to build reefs up in size (Toller et al. 2001).
Surfers, swimmers and sunbathers use beaches for recreation. People fish off beaches for food. Since many people take their vacations at the beach, lots of beaches in tropical locations are important to their country’s economy. Entire cities, regions and countries depend on the money tourists spend while visiting the beach. Beaches are naturally very dynamic places, but people try to control them and build permanent structures, such as houses, restaurants, shops and hotels, on or near the shore. The natural erosion and deposition of beaches becomes a problem. Beaches con disappear over time, or even over night during severe storms. Beaches are areas of loose sediment (sand, gravel, cobbles) controlled by ocean processes. Most beaches have several characteristic features. First are offshore bars, which help protect beaches from erosion. Next is the foreshore, which rises from the water toward the crest of the next feature; a berm. On low-lying shores, dunes form behind beaches. Dunes look like rolling hills of sand and are blown into place by the wind. New, smaller dunes are often changing shape as the wind continues to affect them. Waves and currents move the accumulated sediment constantly creating, eroding and changing the coastlines.
Guinotte, J. M. and Fabry, V. J. (2008), Ocean Acidification and Its Potential Effects on Marine Ecosystems. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1134: 320–342. doi: 10.1196/annals.1439.013
The outer layer of a reef consists of living animals, or polyps, of coral. Single-celled algae called zooxanthellae live within the coral polyps, and a skeleton containing filamentous green algae surrounds them. The photosynthetic zooxanthellae and green algae transfer food energy directly to the coral polyps, while acquiring scarce nutrients from the coral. The numerous micro habitats of coral reefs and the high biological productivity support a great diversity of other life.
At the Aquarium of the Pacific, many different oceanic habitats are presented. These exhibits give the public an idea of the different environments our own oceans hold, providing a hands-on learning experience in the comfort of their own city. The two habitats that interested me are the coral reef and deep ocean. Both the coral reef and deep ocean are very different from each other, having varied ways of survival for the plethora of plants and animals that call those places home.
This research focuses on Gambierdiscus toxicus which is an armored, marine, benthic species in the phylum Dinoflagellata. It has an epitheca and a hypotheca, that is very similar in size, compressed anterio-posteriorly. The theca is covered with numerous deep and dense pores which are very thick. This species is autotrophic creating energy via several golden-brown chloroplasts (Hackett et al 2004), but is also heterotrophic and hence is referred to as mixotrophic. It has a ventrally – oriented crescent shaped nucleus. (Adachi & Fukuyo 1979). It usually inhabits warmer waters such as bay, mediterranian, tropical/sub – tropical in North/Central America (Shiumuzu et al 1982; Loeblich & Indelicato 1986), Asia/Pacific (Holmes & Tao 2002; Lu & Hodgkiss 2004) and has recently been identified in the Mediterranean (Aligizaki & Nikolaidis 2008). These authors identified the organisms to genus level, at best of their effort, so may have been one of the less common members of its genus although it is unlikely.
Soft corals are grouped in the phylum Cnidaria, class Anthozoa, and order Alcyonacea. Their distinguishing characteristic is that their polyps always bear eight tentacles which are on both edges fringed by rows of pinnules (Fabricius and De’ath, 2002). The common name “soft coral” comes from the fact that they have no massive external skeleton as compared to the more commonly studied hard corals.
There are examples of corals reefs found all over the Earth in tropical environments. These reefs are divided into three categories; fringing, barrier, and atolls. Fringing coral reefs are relatively close to land and unlike other reefs they do not have a lagoon area. These reefs are frequently found in the Caribbean. In the Caribbean, the Netherlands Antilles is a popular hot spot for diving is Bonaire. At this cor...